It is amaryllis season and Dancing Queen is my first bloomer. It did not bloom when I first planted it last spring.
I was so excited when I saw it sending up a scape in the basement a few days ago. However, the state of the scape is not healthy with its stunted growth that it barely grew out of the bulb. Tarsonemid mites came to my mind remembering discussions on a forum. I peeled the dried layers of the bulb and sure enough there were tiny crawling insects barely visible to my eyes and there were red blotches on the bulb, a tell-tale sign of the infestation. I believe that hot water treatment is used to treat this problem, where you soak the bulb in hot water in certain temperature and certain length of time.
Although my amaryllises were not fed on regular basis last summer, I am still lucky that DQ rewarded me with two beautiful flowers.
Here are a few of the plants growing in the basement. In this pot are Ammocharis coronica. These were grown from seeds and what you see are squirrel left overs.
This is Lilium philippinense grown from seed. I've sown about 30 seeds and this is the lone survivor.
My amaryllis seedlings.
I put this lily bulb in the fridge on 09.05.10 right after it went to dormancy. A few days ago I found it growing so I potted it up yesterday. I got this lily from a trade and it is suppose to be a species lily from the south.
My thrift store find last week: Born in the Spring and Bulbs books.
I have gotten a lot of informations from this book.
And this book covers a lot of bulbs including lilies. It was published in 1976 and I am wondering if the following lilies still exist today.
Corsage
Update: 12.12.10
On the online Lily Register, Corsage was bred by Jan de Graaff in 1961. Parentage: Patterson's 'Lemon Queen' x 'Edith Cecelia'. There is one nursery in Minnesota that carry this lily. Corsage still exist.
Prosperity
Parentage: Amabile var luteum x 'Valencia', Jan de Graaff 1951. A photo of this lily can be found on Dave's Garden dated 2006. It still exist.
Connecticut Yankee
L. tigrinum flaviflorum x 'Gold Urn' David M. Stone 1959. Can't find a photo online.
Harlequin Hybrids
Jan de Graaff OBF, 1950, Salmon buff and other colors, spotted. No photos online.
12 comments:
Your Amaryllis is beautiful. I love its double blooms. I am sure you will get the infestation under control. Looks like you made a great book find at the Goodwill. I love going to the thrift stores and finding books and little things I can add re-purpose for the garden.
Thanks!
I am waiting for it to finish blooming before I can do something about it. And besides that, I have to cross it with the frozen pollen from a cybister I have since its reproductive part is present. Some doubles don't have it.
These two books were really a great find. I was looking for some vases for forcing bulbs,I found something else instead.
Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate it.
Seasonal greetings,
I practice creative horticultural criticism, collecting, propagating and setting trends in the urban, concrete/asphalt, salty environmnent of Puerto Rico,USA.
Nice blog.
Thank you so much for the compliment. And thanks for stopping by.
Beautiful Amaryllis! My mother used to grow them, but I've not tried them yet.
Thank you! See you on Blotanical!
Lilies are indeed very beautiful, I am not surprized that it is your speciality. They also grow well here in Scotland. We like to grow them in containers and just before flowering they are placed in positions where maybe Spring bulbs have gone over. Love your photos. Alistair
This is a lovely and inspiring post Lily! I am so impressed with your seedlings. I love old flower/plant/garden books too. What a jewel you discovered. I rather love the Amaryllis shot showing the buds . . . I get very excited when I see these plump buds forming too. I have never had the mites you describe. Good luck!
Thanks Carol! I have found old gardening books in the past. The pics or prints of the plants are amazing.
I lost my first DQ to Narcissus Bulb Fly and got another one, and a different infestation. Thanks! I really needed lot of it!
Alistair, thank you so much for the visit and the compliments. I will be visiting your garden now that I have finished my garden chores. Thanks again!
Dancing Queen is a beautiful cultivar of Amaryllis! I used to have one but overwatered it one winter. :(
It is a beutiful amaryllis. I lost my first DQ to NBF and hoping I wouldn't lose this one to mites. Thanks for the visit!
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